Super Newb

[OV10]

Thanks OV. The battery is actually all the way forward and is the recommended pack from MRC (2200 3s). I believe I just had initially set the elevator too high. I made adjustments to the push rod and finalized with trim and sub trim to get it right on.
At this point, I don't anticipate rushing as I'm just starting to get some confidence. I'll stick with this configuration, mess with high rates and attempt to master my landings before I try out the F86 hand launcher. Once I "fly the pants off them" I'll dive into the Rebel. I'd imagine a couple months of that, and I'll be ready for a more intermediate jet.

Good feed back and most likely the case since your still in the novice stage. I'm very anal about initial setups and am constantly catching control surfaces being improperly set on other club members that are in the same skill set as you.

[Alpha]

Purduephigam, I'm just reading your thread now. You're in good hands with these guys, they've all given great advice, and it's clear you've committed to a level headed approach to cultivating your flying skills methodically. Stick with it and you'll be enjoying your F-86 soon enough, and then whatever you fancy after that!

The Pandora remains one of my absolute favorite sub $150 aircraft because it offers four configurations in one box to ease the transition into similarly laid out models in the future. Several workers within our factory supply chain have learned to fly on the Pandora. Even the owner of Freewing flies one. So, you're among friends on a similar path.

[Grossman56]

Whoops, yeah you're right Dewey, I am so used to flying mine on low wing tail dragger configuration that completely slipped my mind!

Grossman56

[DeborahCrabtree]

Hi! Nice to meet you!

[Twowingtj]

Hi! Nice to meet you!

Welcome to Hobby Squawk Deborah. If you are just getting started in the hobby, this is the place to be. A lot of helpfull people here.

[Grossman56]

Welcome to the Squawk Deborah!

Grossman56

[WintrSol]

Hi! Nice to meet you!

Glad you could join us.
A tip: you may notice that many of use have a general location displayed. Sometimes, that will reveal someone who may be nearby, in case you need hands-on help.

[boomer108]

Welcome Deborah you will like it here at the Squawk, just ask and everyone here is glad to help. Merry Christmas!

Roy B.

[DeborahCrabtree]

Welcome to Hobby Squawk Deborah. If you are just getting started in the hobby, this is the place to be. A lot of helpfull people here.

You are right, I already learned a lot of new things!

[DeborahCrabtree]

Welcome Deborah you will like it here at the Squawk, just ask and everyone here is glad to help. Merry Christmas!

Roy B.

Thank you, you are so kind!

[doctormike]

Welcome, Deborah!!! Doc

[Dewey H Lee]

Welcome Deborah. What are you Flying

[starcop]

Hey all,

I'm hoping to pick up an E-flight Apprentice as my first plane in a few weeks. This has been something I've wanted to get into since I was a little kid (parents never really bought in to the whole plane thing). Back in November, I was walking my dog with my parents and we stumbled on an RC field where a couple of birds were in flight. Immediately my inner-kid came out and since then I've been lurking MRC.com and looking forward to diving in officially. I have a tendency to get way too far ahead of myself and I blame my structured, goal-oriented personality. I have an idea of what direction I want to head after I feel I'm prepared to advance after the trainer plane. I'd imagine, assuming my skill level is considered intermediate, the next setup would be a warbird (likely the F8F). I think part of me is more excited to tinker, build, break, and fix than I am to actually fly.

But before I get too far ahead, as I've only logged time on a simulator and have zero field experience, I wanted to ask you all about all the non-sexy stuff newbs don't consider when getting the hobby going (work station, balancer, protractors, tools, glues, weights, etc, etc). Is there an "essentials" list of things involved with building/repairing/maintaining things? I'm a man of organization and intend to be in this hobby for a long time so in terms of equipment and planes, I want to always stay ahead so I'm not only prepared, but always stay organized (if anything will keep the wife from giving me a hard time with junk laying around). Any info to get started is appreciated everyone, thanks very much!

Very cool that your entering the realm of RC airplanes. Try to start out with building the model first. Don't be in any hurry to fly, flying comes after you fully understand the build. Plugging in the servos for instance. Making sure they're in the correct pin set on the receiver. Secondly, you have to understand the Transmitter and it's program. Once you complete a build, with your own electronics, it's much easier to repair after a crash. Getting an RTF, ready to fly is not a good way to start flying. Just because it's put together by someone else. They all do things differently. Hope this helps! Matt

[mcriley2]

Hello all
I'm basically a beginner for about two years now, learning from all your experience's. Since joining squawk, most of my time is going from different forums to catch up and update to present posts and trying to cram as much information in my head as possible without much of it oozing out my ears. Very happy to be able to be privilege to so much good advise.

[Grossman56]

Hi Mcriley2, welcome to the Squawk!

So, how's the actual flying going?
What are you starting out with and what's your dream plane (for now)?




Grossman56

[nascarnat]

Hi all, I'm fairly new to the hobby. Picked up a Champ S+ back in November and have only had a few chances to fly it. First time I was stupid and flew it down my street. It was too windy outside and it was cold and snowy. I will admit, I just wanted to get the thing up in the air. I took it up and hit a tree, broke one front wheel off. Determined (and stupid), I hand launched. She went up, banked hard left and I never saw her again after she went over a house. Controls didn't respond, safe + didn't respond, nothing. Luckily, I got a replacement from Horizon after emailing them and explaining what happened. This time I waited until conditions were better and I had a more open space to fly it on. A frozen lake.... No obstacles around to worry about, and a nice snowy base to land on. I took it up, flew one battery, landed it nicely without the autoland feature. It was cold, so I only used up the one battery before my fingers couldn't function anymore. Next time out I was in a field. Got cocky since my first "real" flight went well. flipped it to full envelope and nose dived into a tree. oops. Luckily nothing too bad happened, just lost the spinner. Took it back up and flew it into the ground. Broke the tail off. oops. The next time out I went into a tree again. I need to find better places to fly, obviously.... this time it was stuck fairly high so I had to get a ladder out and pull it down. That time I tore the rear stabilizers and rudder off, and knocked the receiver loose. The box claims "Anyone can fly this plane!" apparently I'm special. Got it all glued back together and ready to go. Took it out again on the lake and everything went well. Ran 2 batteries through it and didn't run into any issues, taking off and landing nicely. I normally hand launch just because there is snow on the ground and I don't have a runway to take off and land on. I bought a UMX P-47 but haven't had that one up yet, it's still sitting in the box. I just bought a Freewing Stinger 64 and am going to learn about the building process with that since it's a ARF model. I bought a receiver with a gyro in it so I will have that to start with when it's time to fly that one. I know everyone says baby steps, and from what I have been through with my Champ, that's good advice. I'm not as worried about flying the P-47 since that has the AS3x in it just like my Champ does, so it should be similar in characteristic, but it is a low wing instead of a high wing. As I said, it's still in the box and will be until I have more flights with the Champ under my belt. Anyways, that's my story to date, can't wait to be able to get back up in the air flying. It's always so windy around here though, so I don't get a lot of good flying days, especially in the winter.

[Grossman56]

Starting with the same plane I started with in 2014. Bit of advice, the next transition should be to something like the Pandora. You can fly high or low wing and nose wheel or tail dragger. That's as big a step as you'll want to take for a season and fly the :Poo:out of her in all configurations.
Otherwise, the odds of your planes lining the nearest trash can are pretty high.

Grossman56

[crankestein]

Talking about starting out and kind of new stuff,

What are does Dumas "stick and tissue" airplanes?

sometimes its confusing because kit is referred as a all from the ground up build, and at others kit is a arf.

I like those Dumas nostalgic models, and mostly the micro mini scale.

***

You are lacking discipline, its not just throw it in the air and start bashing the airplane around and see what happens. You must first learn how to taxi, maintain a constant altitude doing figure rights, or large oval circles. Began w aileron input first, then later use rudder. Learn to have it at a certain altitude on one leg, and lower on the other, do it cc and ccw. To fly it along the flight line, cc and ccw, maintain a constant cruising speed, then lower and then faster etc. The exercises should be proggressive, one per week or weeks until you feel comfortable and PREVENT the urge to fly the plane. Monitor yourself at how many minutes the stress starts clamping up, tunnel vision, etc.

*dont fly it on windy days
* attempt to feel the airplane on how it responds to controls with and against the wind.
** One way to know if you are ready for a faster plane is when you can land it easily with the wind coming in hot without no issues whatsoever, and when you can take it up high kill the engine and do dead stick landings. All those can be practiced on an invisible landing strips 20to 30 feet above parallel to the surface. Do them on the trainer/sim. Crank up the weather and attempt to land cross wind, etc, clock in 20 to 30 min of sim time everyday. I try to do them right after coming from work and before sleep etc.

which sim you have?
I got a few custom airplanes which I have modified the plane physical characteristics, and do resemble much more ground torque, tip stall, wing load which I can send to you and attempt on yours.

* throttle to lose altitude when landing, let the airplane bleed out.

Bring it up two mistakes high, reduce throttle and watch when it tip stalls.

this grab and go and up in the air all it will do is carry bad habits along the way.

[Grossman56]

What he says!!
The thing about the HobbyZone Super Cub is that there are no ailerons, all rudder and stick, so the control layout on the radio is different. When taking the next step up, you have to learn another control arrangement and aileron input at the same time. Not a good thing when trying to fly a warbird for the first time. One of the big reasons I got into the Pandora as soon as I had confidence in my primary flight ability.
The Pandora was plenty to deal with and a lot faster, even with the stock motor, than the Cub. Anyone who has gone this route, and there are plenty of us here on the Squawk, will agree that until you can consistently take off and land well and fly the pattern, you are not ready for the next step up.
I'm not saying that the Pandora is the only plane out there, but I can say that the Apprentice is also a good step forward, but, having flown them both, I prefer the Pandora.

Grossman56

[boomer108]

Agreed Gman, the Pandora is a great precursor to flying warbirds in the low wing tail dragger configuration.